Financial news

At the end of June 2015 the total amount of loan claims of corporations specializing in lending was BGN 2.047 billion (2.4 per cent of GDP) compared to BGN 2.014 billion (2.5 per cent of GDP) at the end of June 2014, the Bulgarian National Bank said on Monday. It increased by 1.6 per cent, or BGN 33 million, compared to the second quarter of 2014 and by 2.5 per cent, or BGN 50 million in comparison with March 2015. Loan claims were influenced by the net sales of loans by corporations - their amount for the last 12 months was BGN 171.1 million. On an annual basis, loans sold were BGN 180.4 million of which BGN 56.8 million during the second quarter of 2015. In the maturity structure of loan claims, those with maturity over 5 years prevailed and amounted to BGN 631.6 million at the end of June 2015. They increased by 34.4 per cent (BGN 161.7 million) compared with the same month of 2014 and by 9 per cent (BGN 52.1 million) in comparison with the end of March 2015. At the end of the second quarter of 2015 loan claims with maturity of over 1 and up to 5 years were BGN 607.3 million. Loan claims with maturity up to 1 year were BGN 342.1 million at the end of June 2015.

At the end of June 2015 money in circulation was BGN 11.23 billion, according to data of the Bulgarian National Bank. Compared to the previous 2014 they have increased by BGN 696.8 million or 6.62%. In the previous one-year period from June 2013 to June 2014 the increase was much higher, both in absolute terms and in percentage terms, with BGN 1.362 billion respectively, or by 14.86%. The growth of money in circulation is typical for the second quarter, after its decline in the first three months of the year. As compared to the end of the previous quarter, they increased by BGN 471.4 million. The share of banknotes in circulation as compared to the total weight is 97.87%, as their value is BGN 10.99 billion. At the end of the second quarter 375.5 million banknotes were in circulation. They are more by 17 million pcs, as compared to the first quarter of 2015. In one year’s time the number of banknotes in circulation increased by 11.3 million units, or by 3.09%, while their value is BGN 676.1 million.

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Concessions

France’s Total is preparing to start drilling for oil and gas off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast in early 2016. “It depends on the availability of our contractors when exactly we will start, but everything is going according to the plan,” Xavier Faugeras, general manager of Total’s Bulgaria division said. In 2012 Total signed an exploration contract with Bulgaria for hydrocarbon drilling at Khan Asparuh block and teamed up with Austria’s OMV and Spain’s Repsol to work on the permit. The 14,220-sq.km block is located some 80 kilometers offshore in the Black Sea in water depths of between 100 and 2,000 meters. The international exploratory consortium decided in December 2014 to delay drilling at Khan Asparuh block by up to a year due to the slump in global oil prices.

Companies

Company for customized software development and IT outsourcing named ScaleFocus was granted with an award for the fastest growing company in Europe in 2015 by the International Business Awards. The IT company is the first Bulgarian organization, which gets the highest award in the category. Besides ScaleFocus is the only Bulgarian company in the history of the competition that wins three awards in a single year: gold for the fastest growing company, bronze for CEO of the year and bronze for the company in the category IT services in Europe. More than 3000 companies have participated in the business competition, appraised by 200-member Jury. ScaleFocus is founded in March 2012 by Bulgarian managers and investors. The company develops specialized software solutions for clients by order and renders technological services. At present the company employs about 220 specialists. We have offices in Sofia, Plovdiv, London and Munich. We have hired more than 60 new employees from March to August 2015, Plamen Tsekov, ScaleFocus’ CEO and one of the founders of the company explains. In the coming three-four years we are planning to be a company with more than 500 employees, with production capacity mainly focuses on Bulgaria and Eastern Europe, as well as to representative offices in several of the top locations worldwide, he added.

American IT company Sybiz, which is engaged with production of microprocessors and computer components bought at a tender, organized by the municipality a huge site at Sant Peterbourg Boulevard, across Lauta park. Construction of a vast industrial center is to start there. The company has its office at Krim Street in the city, though its capacity is rather smaller. Future investment plans of the company are to build industrial center with manufacturing, business part and show room. Construction is expected to start in a month’s time. The center will have built up area of 17 thousand square meters. Up to 1500 employees are to be hired there.

Insurance company Victoria is assessed at nearly BGN 78 million in terms of assets becomes clear from papers for reorganization, handed out in registry agency. The assessment is made by KPMG Bulgaria, due to upcoming merger of Victoria in other insurer- Generali Bulgaria. Both companies are part of the Italian insurance group Generali, based in Triest. About a year ago 67 % of Victoria’s capital was owned by Fata Assicurazioni, Generali’s subsidiary, while the rest were ownership of Mel finance. Afterwards Generali acquired directly Victoria’s whole capital in October last year. Logically it is time for merger with the other subsidiary of the company in Bulgaria- Generali, which also operates in the field of general insurance. From March 2015, Dancho Danchev the ex-CEO of Victoria took over management in Generali Bulgaria. Merger of the two companies is planned to be over by the end of the year. There is submitted application to the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) approved but not yet issued. Total assets of Generali are BGN 42.04 million in net worth. After the merger of the companies Generali Insurance will issue 30.7 million new shares with a nominal value of BGN 1. Almost all of them will be recorded by the Italian owner Assicurazioni Generali, and 111 securities will be for the company FINTEX which now has less than 1% share in Victoria. The new share capital of Generali Bulgaria will be increased from BGN 16.57 million to BGN 47.3 million.

Bulgarian telecommunications group BTC, operating under the Vivacom brand will increase by one-third the capacity of its cells in the 2100 MHz UMTS band through the addition of a third frequency. The group has obtained the approval of the Communication Regulation Commission to use the new frequency. The new frequency is a prerequisite for the increase of the maximum data transfer speed in the telecom's 3G network from 42 Mbps to 63 Mbps. The increased capacity of the network will cover 80 cities and resorts in the country with total population of over 4 million people. Vivacom plans to implement the new frequency by the end of September.

A list of creditors of Corporate Commercial Bank (CorpBank) has been published in the Commercial Register. The 173-page list contains the names of individuals and firms with recognised claims. The biggest creditor is the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund (BDIF), which paid BGN 3,647,600,000 to 109,230 depositors from December 4, 2014 to August 17, 2015. The list contains the names of depositors with deposits of BGN 196,000, which is guaranteed by the state. The biggest bank creditors are the Bulgarian Development Bank (over BGN 46 million), Societe Generale, Paris (over BGN 44 million), Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt (almost BGN 12.5 million), the Privatisation and Post-Privatisation Control Agency (PPCA) (BGN 10.7 million), and the National Revenue Agency (NRA) (over BGN 3.2 million). Toplofikatsiya Sofia heating utility is the biggest creditor among companies with over BGN 90 million. It is followed by the Dunarit military plant (over BGN 85 million), the Telish winery, NURTS, and others. Hospitals are also among the CorpBank creditors.

Europe

Russia plans to spend around 25 billion roubles (USD424 million) in additional state funds to support its ailing auto industry. Car sales have tumbled as Russia's economy weakened due to low global oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis. German auto maker Volkswagen said it would reduce shifts and lay off at least 150 workers at its Russian plant, days after General Motors announced the closure of its Russian factory. Additional budget funds would be allotted to subsidise interest on car loans, reduce the cost of leasing and finance additional purchases of trucks and commercial vehicles by state institutions. The government had approved the allocation of 10 billion roubles to extend a car-buying incentive programme that offers discounts to buyers trading in their old vehicles into 2015. Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said on Monday the new measures included spending a further 5 billion roubles on the car-buying incentives to support demand in the second quarter. Some 11 billion roubles will help fund car purchases by federal authorities, he said, adding those measures were expected to limit a decline in car sales to 24 percent in 2015. Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers had earlier forecast a drop in Russian car sales of 25 to 35 percent this year.

America

The Obama administration has granted final approval for Shell’s Arctic drilling programme, clearing the way for the company to restart its stuttering search for northern oil. Shell has been waiting since the beginning of August for the arrival of a key safety vessel, the Fennica, after it was damaged en route to the Chukchi sea. Arctic safety standards forbid drilling deep enough to hit oil without the Fennica, which carries a device designed to control a blowout. The director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Brian Salerno said the arrival of the safety vessel meant the company was now compliant with “the highest safety, environmental protection, and emergency response standards”. A Shell spokeswoman said the company was pushing ahead with its delayed programme and the Polar Pioneer rig was making progress drilling into “hydrocarbon bearing zones” of the Arctic Ocean bedrock. Shell’s Burger Prospect is 70 miles (112 km) off the Alaskan coast. Environmentalists and observers have raised concerns that if a large spill occurs in the fragile Arctic environment, little, if any oil will be recovered. Cold water does not support the micro-organisms that broke oil down after the massive BP Macondo spill in the warmer Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Should oil become trapped under the sea ice that covers the area for the majority of the year, experts believe the possibility it will be cleaned up is remote

Asia

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday lowered its forecast for India's economic expansion to 7% this fiscal year due to drier-than-usual weather conditions, although policy changes are expected to strengthen growth next year. The ratings firm had previously forecast the south Asian economy would grow 7.5% in the year started April 1. India received 10% less than the average levels of rainfall from the start of the monsoon season in June until Aug. 17, according to official data. The below-average rainfall has clouded prospects for farm production, which could hurt rural incomes and weigh on consumer demand, Moody's said. For the next fiscal year, however, Moody's predicted India's economy would grow 7.5%, saying that the gradual implementation of policy changes will stimulate investment while low inflation will raise real income and boost consumption. India's consumer inflation has been weaker than expected in recent months, helping build optimism that it would undershoot the Reserve Bank of India's 6% projection for January. If that happens, the chances of interest-rate cuts by the central bank to support growth would rise.

19th August- White brotherhood celebrates Sun new year

Each year hundreds of followers of the White Brotherhood celebrate August 19, the solar new year. This is the largest and most important date in the calendar of Beinsa Douno. It is the largest gathering of the plateau near Kidney Lake, one of Rila’s Seven Lakes. There they perform Paneurhythmy (combination of choreography, dance, music, text, idea, and philosophy), dressed entirely in white clothes and arranged in three giant concentric circles. Deunov known as Beinsa Douno created the occult teaching of the Universal White Brotherhood in 1897. He has issued a brochure with mystical text Hio-Eli-Meli-Mesail. Till 1906 the spiritual society was called Synarchy chain and in 1922 it turned into an occult school, called Universal White Brotherhood. The doctrine of Peter Deunov has followers around the world, among which was also the great Albert Einstein. Picture: www.beinsadouno.org

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